Fort Smith Bomb Squad Investigates Suspicious Device

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FORT SMITH (KFSM) - The Fort Smith Bomb Squad was called in to investigate a suspicious device early Thursday morning (July 17).

The device, which Bomb Squad Commander Skip Mathews said turned out to just be a fan motor, with an LED light attached to it, was found just after 2 a.m. in a field near the Fred's off of Phoenix Avenue.

A Fort Smith police officer, who was working his normal route, said he found the device and decided to have the bomb squad come check it out.

"We got the call of a possible pipe bomb, with wires coming out of it," Mathews said. "Once we got here, we got set up and sent the robot down to get eyes on the device."

Two members of the bomb squad then suited up and went down to take x-rays of the device, Mathews said.

"It's definitely concerning," Mathews said. "You've always got to look at all of the options. You've got something that just does not look right, sticking out of a concrete cinder block, with wires on it and duct tape stuck around it. So I mean it's very, very suspicious. It could have been anything."

The bomb squad then analyzed the x-rays, and determined the device was not a bomb.

BevAnn

pigs

Brittany

Thank you FSPD and Bomb Squad for staying vigilant and keeping our city safe! It wasn’t a bomb this time but it just as easily could have been! These guys go out on a limb for us every single day! They deserve a lot more respect than they get for what they do. Gripe and complain all you want about ‘wasted tax money’ and ‘pigs’, but it’s not your behind out there on the line on a daily basis, is it? Get off your computer and go do something to make the world just a little bit better like these guys instead of complaining over the internet.